10.23.2005
Boats in San Francisco Bay Fail to Catch Fire
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Yesterday in the Bay, a team from MIT and the Discovery Channel attempted to re-enact Archimedes' feat of allegedly setting fire to invading Roman ships attempting to blockade the harbor at Syracuse by setting up a large mirror to concentrate sunlight like a magnifying glass at an anthill.
They did manage to set some small deck fires but the 80-year old ship they used as a target was not destroyed. I wonder if the angle of the sun is high enough in the sky to make this possible?
